The Fat Angel Sings

This documentary feature the band  Slowdive offers an oral history of the classic shoegaze album “Souvlaki”, with intimate interviews examining the stories behind this modern classic.  This episode tells the story of Slowdive‘s 1993 magnum opus “Souvlaki“. their ability to make uncomplicated yet beautiful soundscapes, impressionistic, emotional songs reminiscent of a Turner painting rendered in audio, While the guitars of My Bloody Valentine roared, Slowdive made theirs sing.  “Souvlaki”,  was their definitive album. Though I don’t think of every track as perfect, the truly great songs on this album make it a classic. “Alison” is a gorgeous start, languorous and atmospheric. “40 Days” is even better, with a simple but stunning guitar line that is simply transcendent, and Neil Halstead’s vocal seems deadpan on the surface but strikes me as full of emotion. Above all, the peak moments could very well be the brilliant “Souvlaki Space Station” and “When The Sun Hits”. Both are absolute masterpieces. In the former, Rachel’s vocals are somewhere between waking and dreaming, and are more another instrument than anything else, complementing the washes of guitars perfectly. 

Souvlaki was released on May 17, 1993 in the UK and on February 8, 1994 in the U.S. Widely regarded as their best album, it benefits from synthesizer contributions from co-producer Brian Eno on Sing (which he co-wrote) and Here She Comes . The album’s U.S. release includes the previously unreleased cover of Some Velvet Morning (written by Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra in 1967) and three tracks from the band’s 1993 5 EP, all of which feature on a reissued edition availble at Amazon.

The film follows the band as they come up in the flourishing Thames Valley shoegaze scene and chronicles the making of the album. It features interviews with all of the band members as well as Creation Records’ Alan McGee, producer Chris Hufford, and engineer Ed Buller.